Halo: Invasion
by GundamX67
Summary: Continued from The Begining of the End, these events occur 50 years later. Humanity is dying, and portals have appeared everywhere. All seems lost, and hope is quickly diminishing. It is finally the end...or is it...
1. Chapter 1

Twenty years after the first portal opened in Iceland, the same portals opened everywhere, first in New Jersey, then London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Beijing, Berlin, and finally, New York. All the cities except New York were obliterated in the first wave of aliens that came out of the portals. New York, on the other hand, experienced something different as the portal opened. Instead of a stream of organic insect-like aliens, there were a number of metallic buildings drifted through, along with a number of metallic ships and transports. Instead of firing down on the civilians and soldiers, they initiated first contact, and sent a simple message.

"We mean you no harm. Allow us to help you fight the Zerg."

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Each passing day meant that another city, state, or country fell to the aliens, now widely called the "Zerg". Those sections weakened by the Zerg, would've fell to different opportunistic Covenant forces in that immediate area, lest being beaten by the Zerg. The East Coast barely defended them selves, after barricading the area around the first portal in New Jersey. They managed to keep a wavering supply line to the surviving towns in the Great Plains, such as Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, as well as the parts of Canada closest to the New England states.

Sergeant Ryan Ashcroft, after relocating from the Arctic, led a supply convoy past entire ghost towns, whose only occupants were dogs who had been left behind, and rats the size of your forearm. He could see eyes glowing in the dark alleys and doorways, staring as if planning their attack.

"Sergeant, we're almost to Fort Selena. Its best if you keep your night-vision goggles powered, until we get near the check point. I heard that a town a few klicks from here was just attacked and the damned aliens massacred them before they could get too far." reported the marine on the turret.

"Alright, I'll keep you safe. Just keep your freaking eyes on the road...or what's left of it anyway." retorted Ashcroft.

"Yes sir."

As a cloud of dust kicked up from under their warthog, they could hear the constant staccato of gun fire from a far distance. Normally this would be a cause for an immediate military action, but it was so commonplace, that the military had to conserve their troops from fighting the aliens unless they were attacking the cities or towns. The UNSC only lent their troops when the Terran forces had led attacks against the Zerg. The Covenant were kept in check in space through the combined efforts of the UNSC fleet and the Hiigarans and their high-tech ships.

"_Attention convoy, will the lead vehicle stop at the red line at the guard station. You will be scanned for any foreign objects."_ rumbled a voice over the loudspeaker. Ryan rolled his warthog up to the line, and handed the guard a card identifying his name, rank, and id-code.

"Sir, you may pass. As the border guard, I officially welcome you to Fort Selena. Please be careful of any hostiles that sneaked past our sensors and fences. Head on through." greeted the marine.

As the gate squeaked open, he could hear a quiet, crumbling sound, coming from behind him. Looking back, he saw an alien un-burrow itself from the ground, and slither closer to the convoy. Suddenly, a mass of aliens un-burrowed and immediately began to assault the vehicles and personnel in the convoy.

"Floor it marine, we have to get out of here!" shouted Ryan. The response was the high-pitched squealing of the motor spinning the wheels as fast as it would go. After a moment's delay, the warthog shot off, and raced into the dust-laden road. Each armed soldier and turret fired at the creatures, all the while being shot at with acid and spines.

"Sir, one of our trucks have been damaged with the acid, and it's burning through to the fuel tank!" came a desperate voice over the intercom, "And it crashed with one of our medical transports, with the injured and medics inside. We need help!"

"Roger, I'm going to tell one of the engineering teams to cut through the metal siding. Keep that vehicle safe, I'm going to get more help, as well. Hold them off!"

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**2230 Hours, February 13, 2630 (Military Calendar) /**

**Military Checkpoint Delta, En Route to Fort Selena**

In those last seconds before his warthog flipped over and crashed into the truck, Private Lee Watergate watched as a spine flew through the air, which tore into the spare fuel tank to his bottom left, attached to the outside of the vehicle, between the marine riding shotgun, and him in the turret. When it first hit it, the air stilled, and time slowed into an almost complete stop. He could see the acid corrode the metal tank, and the sparks from the firing assault rifle ignite the fuel. Suddenly, his view snapped back to normal, and he jumped, just as the tank exploded, flipping the vehicle and collided with the convoy truck in front.

A sharp pain in his leg erupted as he fell onto the dry dust. Looking down, he saw that the bulk of the warthog had collapsed onto his leg. Knowing better than to try and pull it out, he sat back and shielded himself from the dirt flying up from the other vehicles as they sped around the crash. He heard screaming as some unfortunate soldiers were trapped under flaming wreckages of their warthogs, or if they were hit by the acidic spines of the creatures. He heard hissing, as the serpent-like creatures slithered toward him. One stopped, inches from his head, and hissed, "_You ssshall ssserve usss well, human…we needsss you for tesssting."_

With super-human strength, the alien wrapped its tail around him, and pulled him out with no effort. It dragged him on the ground as it slithered back to its underground tunnel. He struggled, but the soft tail only tightened. He stopped, and decided to look around. He saw some other, just as unfortunate men being pulled along. Enviously, he could see that some were unconscious. Suddenly, the ground underneath him changed, from rough, coarse dirt, to some slimy organic material. This new ground felt better as he slid the whole way, suddenly, he stopped, and was let go. He tried to stand up, but his feet seemed to be tied to some sort of soft, but strong, vine-like objects. he sat up, and crawled to what seemed like a wall, albeit very soft and seemed to consist of a membrane. He could hear other soldiers muttering about how strange this was. He though, _Strange as this may be, it sure is comfy._ With that, he laid back, and fell asleep.


	2. Cell Break

**0512 Hours, February 14, 2630 (Military Calendar) /**

**Unknown coordinates, unknown Zerg base.**

As Lee woke up, he felt his head feel as swollen as a scared puffer-fish.

"Ugh…my head! Anyone have any aspirin?" groaned Lee.

"No, but I wished I had some. Hey, my name is Tiffany "Rocky" Brett. I was taken here from New Jersey, a helluva long way from here. They took my copilot a couple of hours ago, but I'm not sure where. You hungry?" greeted a dirty female, who was covered in half healed scars. He nodded yes, and crawled over. She handed him a piece of dry, stale bread, but he took it anyway. There was no such thing as actual, fresh-baked bread anymore.

"Thanks," muttered Lee, as he took a bite of the bread, "but I'm more afraid of what they're going to do with us. One alien…" He paused as he gulped down his bread, "…told me that I was suited for 'testing', whatever that meant."

"I was afraid of that. I remember a couple of days before you came, that there was a marine who was shaking and muttering something about some virus that they inject you with. The guards heard him, came in here, and pulled him out. The guards seemed human, as they had everything a Terran had, armor, visors, and guns, but they seemed to have spines and things sticking out of them. The marine screamed as he was dragged, but suddenly, he was silenced…. One of us risked a look, but the membrane squeezed shut before we could take a look." An eerie quiet came after that, with the only sounds being the labored breathing of the human captives, and the steady drip, drip sound of phlegm dripping off of the membrane-bound cell. For no reason, supposedly out of anger, he ripped out his combat knife, and stabbed the vines holding his legs. It snapped apart, and he felt it slither off.

"Whoa! Where'd you get that knife? The aliens, the Zerg, stripped us all of our weapons!" whispered Tiffany.

"I guess they missed me!" he replied, scathingly. With that, he crawled to the wall, and sliced through the walls. As the flesh tore apart, it rapidly shrunk and revealed an opening large enough for them all to escape. He stood up, and cut the vines holding the each prisoner. With that, he ran out, and quickly ran behind some crates.

"What are we going to do now?" whispered a marine, panting slightly.

"Now…we RUN! Quickly, run as fast as you can to that room. I'm fairly certain we can get weapons and escape from there!" instructed Lee. They tore from their hiding place, and sprinted the distance to the door. As they rounded the threshold, they saw this Terran standing there, in all of its gory splendor. It hissed, and tried to punch them, but Lee jumped and ripped off the visor. Underneath, he saw a twisted face, with red eyes, staring out at them. Without stopping, he stabbed at its head, and rode its body as it fell to the floor with a thunk. He ran in, and saw that an assortment of weapons lay before them, some human, and some he couldn't identify, as well as what seemed as lab equipment. He grabbed a shotgun and some ammo before motioning for the prisoners to follow with their weapons out. Suddenly, he and the rest of his group heard the unearthly cry of the Zerg, and also heard explosions and shouts of men.

"Come on, this way! We're almost at the exit!" The burst out of the room, and shot at anything that moved, when suddenly, they stopped. They could see rows and rows of glass pods that shimmered as it they were in stasis. They shuffled along, when Tiffany suddenly cried out, making everyone jump. "Ashley, Ashley Frint! It's you, isn't it?" She ran to her, only to be stopped by Lee's watchful arms.

"What…what are you doing? It's Ashley, my copilot! She can help fly us out of here! Why did you stop me, wh-…" began Tiffany.

"Tiffany, look at her eyes," commented Lee, his voice shaking, "Look in her eyes, and tell me what you see…" When Tiffany couldn't answer, he said, "It is the empty eyes of death. You know what these are? They are 'Cryogenic Freezing Units', just a fancy term for an ice-cold coffin. That's what they are, coffins. All of these souls died at the hands of the Zerg…they have suffered, and they have lost the will to live. Leave them…leave them at peace…Let us go…" Quietly, they all left her, and followed Lee toward the exit. Tiffany was left there, staring at Ashley's face. She lifted her hand, and put her hand on the pod, and whispered slowly with tearful eyes, "I'll never forget you…Ashley…" And slowly, she shuffled out of the room, and vanished into the darkness.

Behind her, the room returned to the quiet state it was left in. Suddenly, Ashley blinked. She let out a slow hiss, and punched the glass pod. Her arm broke through, and soon the rest of her body followed. Her eyes now gained an unearthly, star-like pupil, with orange rims. She sniffed deeply, nose held high, and let out a long, unearthly cry like a banshee, and ran along the same path Lee's group had walked…all the while growing new protrusions along her spine on the back, which looked like the beginnings of spine-like wings.


	3. Atlantis?

**0634 Hours, February 14, 2630 (Military Calendar) /**

**Unknown coordinates, unknown Zerg base.**

"Sir, do you hear something?" asked a female marine.

"Huh? Hmm…I have been hearing something for a while now. I wonder what it…" began Lee, but suddenly the floor below them cracked and started to fall.

"Oh shit…the sound we heard was the ground cracking below us. EVERYONE…RUN!" shouted Tiffany. The raced to get to the closed door on the other side of the hall way, but they each fell down as the floor belong just simply gave way. They fell down, down, down, into the dark, inky blackness. Lee swore he could hear some weird scratching noises around him, but that was most likely the concrete hitting the sides of the hole. Suddenly, a blue tinge filled the space around them. A noise sounding like a rock hitting the surface of water appeared below them, and they flew into a grey, ring-like device with a blue screen. Lee expected to hit the screen and go through into the other side, but instead, landed on some grass outside in a green field sparsely populated by a few trees.

"Ouch!" cried a marine. He had apparently crashed into a black pylon in front of the ring.

"Hey, you there, what are you doing coming through the ring? You look human, but I know for sure that we didn't ask for any reinforcements." cried someone in black fatigues, followed by a group of soldiers. Lee took a few looks at the speaker, and he remembered that their uniforms reminded him of the things the soldiers in the 21st century wore.

Lee stood up. He stood and stared for a bit, but then spoke to the leader.

"Hi, I am human, and since you speak English, I'll assume so too. Which planet did you come from?" asked Lee.

"Which planet? Earth, of course, we haven't gotten as far as populating other planets, although we do populate an outpost in the Pegasus system, called Atlantis." replied the soldiers, surprised that they could speak English.

"What? We also come from Earth, but we apparently have already populated numerous systems." responded Lee. He walked closer to the soldiers, aware that they were pointing their weapons partially at him, and partially at the ground. He touched them on the arm, to see if they were real.

"My god…you are real…" began Lee.

"There's no time for talk. Get your group up on their feet, and wait near the gate. I'll dial Atlantis and tell them about the current events. Then you will come with us through the gate." ordered the soldier. He walked over to the black pylon, and hit a different button seven times. The ring glowed with each button, and finally a blue screen, like the one they had seen before.

"Go on through. I'll follow you soon enough." Taking a deep breathe, he walked up, and stepped through. He immediately set food on the hard surface of an orange metal floor.

"Welcome, to Atlantis. I am Dr. Elizabeth Weir, and I welcome you to our home away from home." greeted a brown-haired woman, in a uniform centered by a pair of red triangles. Lee walked slowly up to her, looking around in wonder. He was used to seeing strange things, but this by far takes the cake. He could hear warping sounds as the rest of his group came through.

"HOLY MOTHER-OF-GOD!" cursed one of the younger marines that had crossed over.

"Language, private." admonished Lee. "Dr. Weir, I'm sorry for the disturbance. My team and I were escaping…" He was rudely interrupted by a dark brown-haired man with a boyish face.

"Weir, I've finally found out those weird energy readings that had come from Chiron-0683, and I've concluded that…" began the man, until he was stopped by Dr. Weir.

"Before we speak anymore, gentlemen, I feel that we should discuss this in the briefing room."

Moments later, Lee stepped through a set of screen doors that split when you walked up to it.

"Please, sit. I would like for you to tell me everything that happened to you before you got here." instructed Dr. Weir. Glancing around, Lee could see that all of the strangers had a tentative look on their faces. With a deep breath, he began to explain about what had happened that sparked everything. He talked about the Covenant glassing Harvest, the SPARTAN super soldiers, the glassing of Reach, the "first strike" on the Unyielding Hierophant, the Covenant invasion of Earth, the discovery of the second Halo, the battle in Iceland, the opening of the portals, the conquering of the world powers, and he ended with him escaping from the Zerg testing site.

"And so…" he ended, "That was how we got here." He closed his eyes, as he barely kept his past nightmares hidden. He glanced around as a number of scientists looked at him with gaping mouths.

"Thank you, that was…quite interesting. We will call you if anything comes up. For the time being, Major Sheppard will lead you to your rooms." commented Weir. She motioned to one of the soldiers to her left, and waited for them to leave. Sheppard took one look at Weir, and she nodded. He left quickly.

"Dr. Weir, there's something weird about their story." implied the brown-haired man.

"What, you think that they're lying, Rodney?" replied Dr. Weir.

"No, it's just that…their story reminds me of something I read a few years before I came here as part as the Atlantis Expedition." exclaimed Rodney, "I just can't think of it right now…"

"Maybe you're right, and maybe you're not. We'll see in the next few days. Until then, do something that won't involve the new strangers."

"Alright, I listen. If you need me, I'll be down in the labs with Zalenka." reported Rodney. He left quickly, privately hoping to learn more about that energy burst he had seen."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I will be doing a cross over to Anubis117's Stargate universe. It seems fitting, since I have Halo, Starcraft, and I need one final Star- to make it complete. Au revoir! 


	4. Leaving a dreamworld

**ERROR: Unknown/Time-Space rip (Military Calendar) /**

**Unknown coordinates**

Lee followed Major Sheppard to the barracks they were to sleep in. On their way, they saw a fairly tanned man with a ragged hair cut, a grey uniform, and long arms.

"Major Sheppard, who's he?" asked Lee, as he pointed to the man walking past.

"Him? He's Havoc. He's been part of our team for a while now. Just to tell you, he's not human, so he can do things you can't." replied the major, "Now then, this is where you'll be sleeping." He gestured to a group of flat cots that appeared to be covered by a thin blanket.

"It might not look like much, but it keeps us warm at night." added Sheppard.

"Thanks, we appreciate this. Is it possible for some of our group members to look around the base?" inquired Lee.

"Well, I'd have to put you under guard, but I guess that's all right." answered Sheppard, "Come on, I'll show you something." He waited for Lee to motion that his group could settle down, before exiting, and leading Lee through the base.

"How did all this happen?" queried Lee.

"I'm not at liberty to say, but just to let you know, we didn't build this. I'm glad you show such an interest, but not all of us trust you much. And, I can't tell you." revealed Sheppard, "but let me show you some of the things in this base."

Major Sheppard led Lee around the base, when suddenly Weir's voice rang over the loud speaker.

"Major Sheppard, please lead our guests into the briefing room; it's urgent."

"I'll be right there!" replied the major, "Come on, we better hurry."

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"We came as fast as we could, what happened?"

"Something has come up, and I think Rodney can explain it." stated Weir.

"Thank you, Dr. Weir. What I have to say is pertaining to you, the new people who have come through the gate. Anyway, I have discovered something. It seems that the gate had a history for the systems it had dialed or received, and it's extremely interesting, you should take a…" began Rodney.

"Get to the point!" grumbled the major, clearly annoyed at the diversion made by Rodney.

"Alright, alright, I'll continue. Anyway, I took a look at the history, and it seems that the gate had been dialed from the same gate at Earth, but it showed a different energy signature. It seemed that this 'alternate gate' had been activated by some other force on that side, and this group went through, or fell through. I think that they traveled through time." finished Rodney.

"Traveled through…am I hearing this correctly? Traveling through time? What have you been smoking, boy!" ridiculed a marine, roughly in his early twenties.

"Seriously Rodney, how could this have happened?" questioned Dr. Weir.

"I don't know, it's a freak event!"

"Fine, anyway, can we get them back?"

"You want the short answer? Yes, they can get back, but there is a catch."

"And the catch is…?"

"It's that someone has to go through with them."

"Well that's not that…"

"And they can't come back." finished Rodney.

"Oh."

"Any volunteers?" asked the scientist hopefully. Not one hand rose.

"Fine, I'll have to teach you what to do." complained Rodney.

The next few hours went by quickly, each passing as Rodney taught the group how to close the gate when they got out, how to repair the gate, and hopefully be able to get back here again. Finishing late at night, Rodney and the group separated, each going to their respective dormitories. Lee laid on the cot thinking about what he had learned. He couldn't believe he was going home. He closed his eyes and entered a dreamless sleep.

He felt as if he had just fallen asleep when he felt hands shaking him. Lee snapped open his eyes and put his hand on his knife, when he realized that it was just Tiffany. He sat up, and followed them out into the hall. They walked into the top control room, and waited for Rodney and Weir to tell them what to do.

"Okay, when I tell you, walk straight through the Iris, and hold on tight." instructed Rodney, "You'll feel tingling all over your body, but it'll go away."

"Umm, I just have a question, how are we going to exit? We came through the gate by falling down, and I'm pretty sure we can't fly."

"We have grappling guns ready for you. Just pull the trigger and follow the rope."

"Gotcha, thanks!" said Lee, who seemed to always have to do things first. He picked up one of the guns, aimed it through the hole, and pulled the trigger. He heard the whiz of the rope as it flew out of the gun's tip. It was visible for a second before flying through the blue field and into the other side. He felt the rope go taut, and began to wave good bye.

"See you, thanks for everything, and I hope to see you again some time."

With that, he pulled himself through the hole and into the other side.


	5. Disaster

**2135 Hours, February 15, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**Unknown coordinates, unknown Zerg base. **

Lee pulled on the rope as he felt himself exit the wormhole. he heard the other members of his group climb through, and watched as the last one came through when the wormhole shut off.

"One hell of a ride, wasn't that?" joked Tiffany. Lee laughed, and continued to climb. He finally reached the tip, and helped pull everyone up.

"Come on, we have got to get out of here. We should head through the door and we should be near the main courtyard." ordered Lee. They ran out, but noticed something was wrong. They heard no voices, no staccato of gunfire, no hissing of aliens. Just dead silence… The crept out and treaded carefully on the soft, tentacle-like stuff the Zerg made when they grew. A dark shadow loomed over the horizon, when realized why there were no sounds. A high amount of explosives had left a hole in the ground the size of two UNSC cruisers, end to end. they wandered around the edge, realizing that it was luck that they didn't escape when they did, or they would've been vaporized.

Suddenly, they heard voices in the back ground, dark mutterings of a forlorn group of people.

"God, what could cause such destruction? I know explosives alone couldn't have done all of this."

"Yes, doctor, I agree. Nothing could cause this."

"Wait, I see people on the other side, maybe they know what happened!" The small group of people walked over toward them, the only one being cautious was the green MJOLNIR-equipped SPARTAN.

"Marines, can you tell us what happened?" asked a dirty, but still recognizable scientist.

"I…don't know…My group had just escaped from the Zerg lab, and we…went in the wrong direction, and when we finally came out, it was like this." stated Lee, dully.

"Alright, now we introduce ourselves. I'm Dr. Alexander Smith, one of the scientists from the ARS in the Arctic. This is Mitchell 316, a Spartan from the Arctic, who works with me, and I also have an AI interfaced with Mitchell." greeted Dr. Smith.

"Great, now can we get out of here? The lack of cover makes me nervous, because I can hear something coming. Shit…DUCK!" hollered Mitchell. The all hit the ground, Lee actually swallowing some dirt. He glanced up, and saw a flaming object scream over their heads, crashing down somewhere behind them. Mitchell stood up, motioned for them to find cover, and ran for the ship that fell. Lee ran toward the concrete entrance of the underground base, and sat, panting doggedly. He waited for a few minutes, when uncontrollable drowsiness overcame him, and his head fell to his chest.

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Mitchell ran to the flaming ship, and watched as the ship board flame-dousing device activate and extinguish the fire. He ran to the hatch, and wrenched it open, tearing it apart, and going in. The lights flickered, sparks jumped, and the musty smoke drifted around. He recognized this ship as a Civilian "Kangaroo" Transport. He carefully walked to the cockpit, and saw that the pilots were still in their seats, head against their chests, with faint evidence of blood on the dashboard and control panel. The console which held the on board flight recorders were still intact. He gripped the handle, and slowly pulled the cover off. Inside was a jumble of wires, but he gripped the recording disk, pulled it out of its slot, and inserted it into his helmet for safekeeping. He quickly checked if the pilots or any of the crew on board was still alive, but their vitals were already flat. He rushed out, and left the transport alone. He dashed over to some stone cover, and began to view the recordings.

The scene showed two pilots, joking around, as the window outside showed personnel rushing around for their own reasons.

_This is Captain Xavier, preparing for flight to Dallas-FT. Worth shipyards, or what's left of it, eh? _The captain nudged his copilot, who laughed harshly, then shut up.

_Anyway, I'm beginning pre-flight check ups. It seems that everything's under control. Fire 'er up, we're heading out._ He reached over and hit the intercom button.

_Attention passengers, we are currently preparing to launch. Please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for liftoff. _

Mitchell fast forwarded a few hours, and then viewed it again.

_GOD, I'm bored. Tom, got any games we can play? _

_- Yeah, hold on. _A sudden lurch made the copilot come back up. That was quickly followed by a number of longer, more pronounced bumps in the normally smooth ride.

_- What the fuck was that? _

_I dunno...hold on, I'll ask any pilots in range. _

_"**This is Captain Xavier Wenzel, are there any UNSC personnel in range, please respond. I repeat, this is Captain Xavier Wenzel, are there any UNSC personnel out there!" **_

**_"_**Attention Captain, this is copilot Heather Kissinger, what is your problem?"

"**_Our transport is experiencing severe turbulence, but we're designed so that we didn't have such things._**"

_- Uh, captain? Take a look out the window. _

_What is it, another bird fly…by…Oh my god…_Mitchell could see that there was a mushroom-shaped cloud, and flashes of light in the dark sky. A sudden explosion rocked the camera, and he could hear air hissing out.

"**_Damnit, Heather, something else just happened. There was an explosion about fifty kilometers from our current position. Something hit our starboard maneuvering thrusters, and it's sure as hell not a technical malfunction." _**

**_"What? But…but that's impossible! Alright, there is a highway about twenty kilometers south of your current position. I have you on my radar, so follow us down. We should be right in front…SHIT; Banshees, where did they come from. Xavier, I'm setting down the coordinates. Follow those down and you should be good. I gotta shake the banshees, their on my tail!" _**

_Holy hell, banshees! Alright, come on, we have to maneuver this thing onto the highway. You ready? In three…two…one! _The sudden shift in the camera's position meant that they had swerved downward in preparation to land. As their speed and altitude decreased, another explosion came from behind them.

_Shit, the engines are gone. We have to land, now! _

_-But Xavier, the highway isn't for another four kilometers! _

_No time, we're bringing this bird down! _The camera continued to roll, and showed a number of explosions rocking the transport. He could hear screaming from the passengers, and grunts from the pilots as they struggled to stay in control. He could hear the pilots counting off the number of meters they are from the ground. A sudden crunch and a jerking motion was the last thing he saw before the screen blacked out and showed a glowing orange message. **ERROR: Camera Malfunction; severe severance of power and damage to camera; Shutting Down.**

As Mitchell heard the whirring of the disk ejecting, he felt no strength to remove it. He hadn't felt like this since he was training as a child. A disaster, people fighting an enemy with no clear disadvantage; he closed his eyes, and thought about what he saw. He picked up the disk, stood and walked over to the rest of the group. He paused, stared at the disk, and continued toward the sleeping marines. He would have to discuss this with them later.


	6. Black Mesa North

**0600 Hours, February 16, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**En route to Black Mesa****© North, Aboard SkyCarrier Falcon 597 **

Mitchell couldn't help but wonder why they were heading to Black Mesa. He had never heard of such an institute, but trusted Dr. Smith enough to follow his lead. Looking out the viewscreen, he could only see vast plains of brown and dark green.

"We're almost there, Mitch, so hold on tight. That goes for the rest of you, too." ordered the doctor. Mitchell was about to complain about being called, "Mitch", but cast it away, as he had more important things to worry about. He could see signs of obvious damage to the ground, as big gaping craters meant plasma bombardment. A large, metal gate began to slide open, as tons of sand fell through the cracks, and fell into the abyss below. As the transport descended down the maw in the fields of orange and tan, Mitchell could see multiple transport systems, robots that were flying around, strobes of light from arc welders, and multiple levels with scientists and other personnel walking around the place.

"_Falcon 597, please land on Docking Pad 3, to your left. We will refuel your wing-board tanks and then you will fly to the Madison Airfield/Interplanetary Spaceport. Confirm, Falcon 597?" _crackled a scratchy voice over the intercom.

"_Affirmative, ATC, landing on docking pad 3 and leaving for Madison; over and out." _responded the pilot, shaking his head as he stared out with a wistful attitude. They all felt a small thud as the bottom of the SkyCarrier hit the metal docking pad. The filed out, walking into a spotless white linoleum lobby, with a round information desk in the middle, manned by a number of blue-shirt and gray vested guards. Dr. Smith walked up to them and started to introduce himself and sign in, then motioned for everyone to follow. Mitchell looked back and saw Lee shaking his head while Tiffany started to snort with laughter. As the walked into the long corridors, he could see colored lines running across the walls, each marked with a different phrase, like "Sector C Laboratories" as a light red or pink, "Waste Processing" in a dark green, "Test Chamber" as orange, "Anomalous Materials Laboratory" as blue, and finally "Lambda Complex" as a light brown. Dr. Smith led them into a green-walled room with different sections with glass windows and metal gates. Mitchell could see biohazard signs on many of the doors, as well as many orange suit-wearing scientists carrying cages filled with creatures he could not identify.

"In here, please." instructed Dr. Smith, as he gestured into a room with a long table and filled with chairs and one, extremely large screen. He entered, but didn't sit. All other people that were with him sat down, and glanced around, nervously.

"Mitchell, if I may take Juno from you, we may begin." Mitchell ejected Juno's memory crystal from his helmet and handed it to the doctor's open hand. He placed it on the table, which then had a small opening the exact size of the memory crystal. The instant the crystal fit into the small niche, Juno's hologram expanded onto the table, "standing" next to Dr. Smith.

"Juno, please show visuals A1to D6, as well as M7." Immediately, a 3D image floated on the table, one that showed a green, landscape with spires and pools of water. As he continued to gaze at the two-leveled floating island, he could see rods with lights at their tips.

"This is the Xen world. We have recently come across this world when one of our research ships, the UNSC Vanguard, approached this planet." captioned Dr. Smith, gesturing at a star map, with his index finger on a small planet on the far reaches of the Milky Way.

"However, upon sending down a detachment of scientists and soldiers, they were immediately attacked by a group of bipedal aliens, with rough skin and one, singular eye. Along with those, they were also attacked by rounded creatures with two long front legs, two short ones in the back, and one mouth with rows of teeth on the bottom." The image changed to show soldiers firing out as the aliens pounded them with energy blasts and the smaller ones jumping up to get to their heads. The soldiers either survived with burns, fell with a thing on their heads, or dismembered and disemboweled. The image switched again to show the white-yellow body of the alien that jumped up. Mitchell personally thought it looked like a crab.

"As they fought, they managed to set up camp and survive for a few months, before they were bolstered by some reinforcements. On one of the days that they were doing field research, some of the scientists discovered a man in a white lab coat, but was not part of the expedition. He identified himself as someone from a place called 'Black Mesa Research Facility', and he said that they had discovered ways of physical teleportation. They have gathered samples and specimens of the creatures there, and have been researching teleportation from some time. The scientist warned us about something called the Resonance Cascade, that was a possibility to occur if we toyed around with teleportation too much.

"For some reason, the camp at that site went out of contact. The Vanguard returned from a supply run, but found the camp in total disarray. All personnel on the base mysteriously vanished, but there were signs of a struggle and firefight. For some reason, large holes in the ground were found, but they were filled with melted metal, re-solidified. The Vanguard sent down a small marine detachment, and they only found a surveillance tape. Everything else was unusable and unsalvageable." The screen changed to a scratchy color recording, with the time marked at the bottom right. They saw everything normal until 0706. The ground started to shake, and the marine guards started to murmur, unsettled by the shaking. Suddenly, two large winged creatures leaped into the air behind some of the spires. One of the marines took a binocular and zoomed in on the creatures, screamed, and started to shout something. Apparently it was an order to fire, since seconds later the yellow flashes of light and strobes of plasma scorched the air and left tracks of light leading to the winged monsters. Mitchell could hear the screeches of the monsters as they roared with anger. A jet of flame issued from its mouth, forming a streaming line of inferno. The marines were instantly vaporized, and the ones that survived were burned and bleeding. The camera suddenly rotated around. On the other side of the base, more of the same winged creatures started to burn and crush much of the walls and garrisons. A sudden burst of flame hit the area around the camera, burning much of the wall. The camera cut to black, and the infamous blue screen of death popped up.

"Juno, please shut down this program. I HATE it when this occurs."

"_Yes doctor._"

"Now, I didn't show this to you for no reason, or to scare you. I showed this to you because reconnaissance in Iceland, surveying the extent of the damage, has seen a few glimpses of these creatures in a base roughly 60 kilometers from the first portal at Bravo Base. I want you all to be prepared if these creatures make it out of there, and into the countries not infested with the Zerg or Covenant. I will allow you to –" but he was cut off, as a dark-skinned female walked in, walked up to the doctor, and slapped him straight across the face. Mitchell could hear the marines in front of him groan and chuckle at the sight of Dr. Smith being slapped…least of all by a girl!

"You…you BASTARD! You left me hanging at Camp Freetown. Did you know how hard I had to work to cover your ass? Well, do you?" accused the dark-skinned female.

"Sonia, I swear, I meant to go back! I had to go –" began Dr. Smith, but he was stopped by another slap to the face.

"What was that for!" gasped the doctor, his face now cherry red.

"Talking! I can't believe what an air-brained, thick headed, numbskull, brute, and a blockhead of a man you are, Alexander Smith!" As the argument continued, Mitchell saw the doctor motion for them to leave, though many of the soldiers sitting at the table felt compelled to sit there and enjoy the show. Mitchell, on the other hand, smirked, and exited the room, still hearing the descriptions on how big of a block head he was, how stupid, and ignorant he was. As the doors closed behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief. He could now think without being disturbed. He continued down the hallways, following no particular corridor, and found himself in front of a sign, with three pieces of text. Two signs signaled that the fork in the corridors led to either the "Test Chamber", or "Lambda Complex". Underneath the two signs, there was one last piece of paper, saying, "Test Chamber under Construction. All Registered Activities will Progress on the Second Month of Successful Operation." Without any other choice, Mitchell followed the path down into the Lambda Complex.

He walked through a set of double doors which opened up into this grand atrium. Directly in front of him, there was a glass cage outlined with blocks of concrete and metal. Inside, there was an alien environment, with creatures and insects walking, floating, or hanging inside. Fauna grew around a central stream running through the center of the cage. He walked up to the cage, but jumped back when one of the creatures jumped up and smacked against the cage. Mitchell backed off, and wandered over to the left side of the atrium. He opened the set of doors, and could see rows upon rows of glass pods, each filled with a separate person or creature. Some of the specimens looked as if they were in seperate stages of decay. Each creature or person was suspended in a thick, clear liquid that apparently kept them alive.

All Mitchell could stare and gape.

_What in god's name were they doing here? _


	7. Twists of fate

**0750 Hours, February 16, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**Lambda Complex, Specimen Storage, Black Mesa North **

Mitchell walked up to one of the glass chambers. Inside, there appeared to be a winged female, dressed in fatigues. It was wearing an expression of content. Mitchell put his gloved hand on the glass window. The female inside blinked. Mitchell shook his head, and looked again, just to make sure that he was working correctly.

"What are you doing? Get away from there!" shouted an orange-suited scientist that exited a doorway in the back of the room.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

"No, just stay back. The specimens could be potentially powerful, and escape. That has happened before, so stay –" began the scientist, but just then, the winged figure in the tank burst out, shattering the glass walls. It shrieked, and then flew off onto the scientist. He screamed, and tried to punch it off, but it was too strong. It bit his throat, and ripped it out. The scientist gave one final blood-curdling shriek, before he fell silent. The creature, what ever it was, proceeded to consume portions of the corpse. As Mitchell started to turn around, the creature turned its head around, and showed a blood-stained face, with an open mouth full of sharp, yellow fangs, and two, orange eyes. The "thing" deftly jumped and ran toward him. It was fast…almost as fast as another Spartan. It swiped at his chest, but was held back by the shield from his armor. It paused momentarily, confused, but began a renewed attack at his face. Repeated punches to the shield began to lower it to dangerous levels, but by that time, Mitchell took a hold of the creature, and kicked it in the abdomen, making it fly all the way down the corridor, crashing into another glass tube. It roared in anger, and sprinted at Mitchell, but he side-stepped and watched as the creature ran past, and collide with the wall. It took one look at Mitchell, and exited the doors, apparently sensing defeat. Mitchell ran after it, hoping to get it down before it killed anymore people, but lost it in the maze of corridors in the Complex. Mitchell slowed down, as he came upon a corridor full of dead bodies, body parts, and blood. He heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey you; stay right there!" shouted one of the grey-armored soldiers. As they all kept Mitchell in their firing reticules, one of them walked up past Mitchell, and sprinted all the way to the end of the hall way.

"Clear!" shouted the soldier at the end of the hall. The other soldiers lowered their weapons, and looked anxiously at the blood in the corridor.

"Spartan, what happened here?"

"One of the specimens got loose, and killed one of the science personnel in the storage facility. It got loose, and I tried to chase it down."

"God…one of the specimens; Fuck…that means…wait…how did you even know about the specimens? You need to have high level clearance, and also being part of the science team!"

"I do have high level clearance. Now, tell me, what are the specimens doing in here?"

"…I cannot tell you. Go. Leave here, get to the front lobby, which is down the corridor and to the right." ordered the soldier. Mitchell nodded as he understood, and left them. A while after he walked out of the corridor, he heard screaming and gunfire. He glanced back, and sprinted to the room where he had last seen the doctor and the rest of their team. As he neared it, he heard screaming and alarms sounding every which way.

"Damnit; where are they?" He looked around, and heard someone shouting his name.

"Mitchell, over here! Get on the pelican, right this instant. We're leaving, and heading to the crystal. Remember that from our discussion with the A.I in the arctic? Yeah. That crystal has been found. We've got to get out of here!" shouted Dr. Smith, as he motioned for him to get closer.

"Roger that. Once I'm in, get the pilot to launch, ASAP!"

"Yessir!" agreed the pilot, apparently listening in on them.

"Good. Let's get the hell out of this place. It gives me the creeps, even more now that something had gotten loose here."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

**0630 Hours, February 16, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**"Alcazar" military station, UNSC/Hiigaran Defense Zone, orbit of Earth **

"Sir, Captain Mendoza of the UNSC frigate Early Dawn reporting for duty, sir!"

"Acknowledged, captain, please sit down. I have called you here today for a reason that was, and still is, highly confidential. You will be expected not to mention this to anyone. Is that understood?"

"Yes, vice admiral."

"Good…very good; as you know, twenty years ago, we first encountered the creature now known as the "Beast". The Hiigarans were kind enough as to provide us with new technology, and production bays on some of our larger ships. Our new weapons give us a slight edge on the covenant, but they are still hazardous. We have a number of their newest ships, as well as prototypes. Anyway, the Beast is still out there. We want you to lead our forces in an attempt on finding them and destroying them."

"Thank you, vice admiral, but I'm not capable for such an honor. Surely there are some more experienced –" exclaimed Mendoza, but was stopped by the admiral's hand in front of his face.

"Please, I chose you for a reason. You have seen the devastation the Beast can cause and the dangers as well. You will know what to avoid, and that you have a better understanding of its nature."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be glad to lead them. Just tell me where I have to go." He prepared to get up, but heard someone running toward them.

"Sir, a transport has crashed on the docking pads. Something's wrong. We need to get off this station, and evacuate all personnel." panted a blue-armored marine.

"Alright, Captain, please go to the docking pad and board a transport out. I'll follow later."

"Yes, sir." Mendoza ran out of the room, and all the way down the corridor. He saw flames flicker and heard the click as the docking bay, which was on fire, seal itself shut, and the Halon Gas Fire Suppression Unit activate inside.

"We need a medic here!" someone shouted, as a man with blackened clothes lay on the ground, shaking. Mendoza ran over, gazing down. Even without medical training, he instantly recognized that the man suffered from second- to third-degree burns. The victim suddenly grabbed him, and whispered, "_Caveo, letum est ventio! Liberate tutemet ex inferis!_" before falling silent, and taking short, wheezing breathes. Mitchell froze when he heard that. It was a different language, definitely from Spain. He stood up, and ran over to a SkyCarrier that was waiting for him. The marine standing guard waved him inside, and yelled something to the pilot. Mendoza ran aboard, and sat down as the transport sped toward his frigate, the Early Dawn. It was currently docked with the orbital construction stations, being upgraded with the latest technology, weapons, and armor. On both the right and left sides, there were four large, double-barreled turrets. Near the aft and middle, were the docking bays, which were sealed shut with two intertwined metal gates.

"_Captain, this is Custos, we are ready to leave. Please report to the command level as soon as you report in." _

"Alright, Custos, I'll get right on it." The transport landed on the cramped, bright landing pads of the docking bays. He heard his longtime companion shout our orders to the engineers working on the claw-shaped fighters sitting, three to a pad, and refueling them.

"Hey, get those fuel and coolant lines connected to those Warbrow fighters. You don't want their reactors to either not start or explode, do you? Remember, it's your ass on the line!" shouted Mendoza's friend, Rafael, "We've got to get these ships prepared to be launched out into the void!" A muffled confirmation rang out, and the sudden sounds of whirs and clangs of fuel lines securing to the ports rang a split-second later.

"Still playing with your small ships, I see." joked Mendoza. The dark, stubble-faced staff sergeant yelped in surprise and almost dropped the data pad he carried.

" Mendoza! Welcome back…well, almost. These lazy-assed engineers are way behind in the restocking and preparation of ship-board equipment. Everything else is ready, unless I was misinformed."

"Nah, you weren't misinformed. You were just, how do I put this, _kept out of the loop_. Eh. You'll get some major crew changes soon."

"The sooner the better…OY, you there, stop messing around with the arc welder! A spark could ignite the fuel! Godamnit you lazy bums, get more cautious!" Mitchell grinned at himself, and walked through the metal doors into the elevator to get to the command level.

As he moved toward the command center, a small dot on the hull of the ship started to blip and blink with light. It showed a small screen with glowing green numbers. The counted down, 0_3:00, 02:59, 02:58, 02:57, 02:56, _each second bring it closer to the dreaded, _00:00_.


	8. The dead riseth

**0953 Hours, February 16, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**Secured Civilian Population Center, CPC-105, Sector 11-b, Madison, Wisconsin   
**

One of the last cities untouched by the Zerg or Covenant, refugees flocked there, either settling down or boarding a transport to one of the stations in orbit, where they could find some ship to ferry them to another planet that wasn't glassed. The main streets were crowded as people continuously arrived here from other places in the US. The marines had hard times keeping order in the city streets, as people banded together for protection. As Josie Kindering followed the flow of refugees in search of a place to stay, she kept a tight hold on her belongings, as she was jostled by the crowd of people. She felt the hot breeze caress her face, and she felt her face cool, and her sweat dry somewhat. She was edging toward the nearest alleyway, where she could rest for a second. She stopped at the edge on one, and slipped in, unnoticed. The alley was dark and dingy, but surprisingly, not dirty.

She dropped the duffel bag she was carrying, and unzipped it. She looked inside, and searched around for something. Apparently, she found it, as she pulled out a metallic cylinder. She hefted the duffel bag, and walked over to one of the doors, and pushed it open. Inside were rows of stacked cans, and in a corner, there sat a filthy-looking hobo. She walked up to him, and slipped him a piece of paper. He nodded, and grabbed one of the cans on a shelf. The vent next to him slid open, and Josie crawled through. She entered a large white room, filled to the top with laboratory equipment. There were four clear tubes, two of which were containing a male and a female in green liquid, and they were naked, suspended in the middle, hooked up to tubes of life support and air filtration systems. There were five other scientists, all manning different stations.

"Doctor, I got the ova, where do you want it?"

"Huh? Put it somewhere there; the Administrator of Black Mesa North wants to speak with you." commented one of the older scientists there.

"Thanks. I'll get right on that." She put the silver cylinder down on the stand, and walked toward the screen to the back of the room. The "Administrator" wore a neat, trimmed blue suit, a slick, black hair, cut to army regulations. He fiddled with his tie and stood up straighter.

"_Hello, Doctor Kindering, I have to ask on the progress of the hybrid alien_."

"The hybrid? The first two attempts failed. The third one is currently in progress."

"_Hmm, good…very good. Do you have the subject?_"

"Yes…yes we do."

"_Good. Begin as soon as possible._"

"Yes, administrator, we will get on it right away."

"_Good…good…oh, and one more thing, Boris, you may begin the sequence now._"

"Huh? What sequence –" she began, but suddenly two strong arms grabbed her from behind, and injected her with some kind of serum. She immediately began to feel dizzy, and slumped. The last thing she saw was the triumphant smirk of the administrator, before her sight vanished into darkness.

When she awoke, she felt weird. Not sick, just, weird. There was a mirror in the room she was in. She felt the urge to undress and examine herself, which she did. She felt along her smooth skin, and what she saw amazed her. She was even more beautiful than before. She turned around to examine her back. There was nothing but smooth, unlined skin. She looked back at her torso. There, a miniscule line lingered between her firm, smooth breasts, and she felt there. There was definitely something there, as it felt soft and slick. She urged to hide that scar, to be complete once more, and, to her amazement, it did. The skin moved so it covered it. She thought about what her skin would look like if it was blue, and it turned blue, which made her look even more exotic. She tried everything she could think of with her body. Change form, add or take away appendages, even change people! She could do whatever she wanted. She had become the first human shape shifter. With that now in mind, she was able to redress herself as she pleased. She walked to the wall, and started to feel for an exit.

She found the miniscule crack in the all-white room. She morphed her fingers to fit the crack, and pulled. She appeared to have gained super strength, as well. She pulled as hard as she could, and it slid open. There was no one in the hallways, so she could walk down the halls without the dangers of being seen. A door to her left had a sign which read, "Armory". She opened it, and found rows of guns and ammo, as well as suits of armor. She undressed, and donned the armor she found, and grabbed a Battle Rifle, and a few clips of ammo. She also grabbed a knife, and a few grenades. She left, and followed the signs marked "EXIT". As she raced to the stairs heading to the top, she noticed something was wrong. There was the smell of fire, and absolutely no noise except the crackle of the fires. She cautiously walked out. There was nothing but rubble on the streets. There were a number of cars and trucks crashed into the buildings to her sides. She heard the stomping of some giant machine, so she ran and ducked into a building.

A bipedal, upright walking machine with missile launchers for shoulders, a glass cockpit, one, long cannon on the top-left of the cockpit, a turret on the nose of the cockpit, and two, long arms on either side of the robot, each with two, V-like protrusions, with the wider part of each one facing each other, with a small gap between them. The mech thundered down the street, the top portion swerving around as it scanned for people still on the surface. Josie could see a black circle, with a black peninsula connected to the bottom right corner of the circle. She instantly recognized it as the symbol for Black Mesa. Someone ran onto the street in front of it. He started to scream and curse at the mech, and began to throw some rocks. A few others joined as well. The mech pilot turned the mech so it faced them, and fired two green beams of light from either arm cannons. The small group started to run, but was vaporized. All that remained was a black crater in the street. The mech continued to thunder down the street, past Josie's hiding place. She sighed. At least she would be able to hide.

Running down the corner of the street the mech originally came from, she saw rows and rows of the mechs, all bent down, kneeling on the floor. A number of guards were walking around the perimeter. One happened to cross her hiding place. She grabbed him, and flung him to the ground. He struggled, but Josie twisted his neck and checked hi pulse. When he was actually dead, Josie morphed her shape into the exact replica of the guard's, and swapped armor and fatigues. She stood up, and walked back out onto the street. She wandered around a bit, but was actually heading for the closest mech. She climbed in. In the center of the console and dashboard, was the joystick. Next to it, there were the signs on top of buttons labeled "Ignition" and "Jet pack". On the other side, there were a series of dials and gauges. She'll tackle those later. She pulled down the cockpit, morphed back into her normal body, and pressed the button for ignition. She heard the reactor in the back of the body module hum as it activated. She moved the joystick tentatively, and she saw that if you move it one way, the mech would correspond, moving in the same direction. If you were to make a turn, the top portion of the mech would swivel to allow you to fire your weapons at a target where you can't get to.

"_Hey, get out of the mech! You are not authorized to pilot one. Come out with your hands up!" _

_Not a chance_, she thought. She aimed directly for the base's gate, and pulled the trigger on the joystick. The arms on either side of the cockpit responded with two resounding blasts of green energy. It hit the metal gates, and melted enough of the gate for her mech to exit out. She heard the whine of some of the other mechs power up and clank after her. She accelerated the mech as fast as the servos for the legs would allow, and ran off toward the city's spaceport. There, she would find here trusty workhorse, the "Rhino"-class civilian heavy transport. Although the official authorization code was sprayed on the sides next of the cockpit, Josie had dubbed it "Ol' Faithful", after the steady geyser of Yellowstone National Park.

She could hear the crackle of the lasers shooting past her, missing by centimeters. Just for kicks, she decided to press the "Jetpack" button, and immediately the mech flew up by a few feet, and then fell back with a clunk. She looked straight ahead, and saw that the entrance to the spaceport was blocked by massive gates, and surrounded by white walls that looked strong enough to withstand hours of pummeling by plasma bombardments.

Over the intercom, she heard someone shout for someone to open the gates and activate the base defenses. She saw hatches open up in the walls, and fierce looking cannons protruded out from the walls, and shuddered as a number of red lights flashed, and instantly explosions sounded from behind her. A number of people ran out and ran straight over to her mech. They waved for her to follow, and to bring the mech through the huge double doors. The gates slid open, so it was wide enough for the mech to walk through with space to spare. There were white arrows on the ground, seemingly as if she was to follow them. She piloted the mech along the path, and found that it led into a giant hangar of some sort. There were whole battalions of tanks, mechs, and even Powered Infantry Suits, or P.I.S. for short. She followed the mechanic's command as he waved for her to move into a red square. She keyed the two locks on either side of the cockpit, so it would open and let her out.

"_Hello person! Welcome to the Resistance Base. We have stayed independent since the time the first wave of soldiers invaded our town. We are currently sheltering hundreds of refugees who couldn't get out of the city in time. What is your business here?_" asked a grey-shirted civilian, flanked by two armed civilians.

"I just want to get this mech to my ship, docked in Hanger B-10!"

"_…We will see. Please exit the mech and come down here, so we can be properly introduced._" Josie clambered out, and jumped onto the dark grey of the hanger floor. He could see people in the hallway next to her, and also sleeping bags, dirty and patched clothes, and trash. The grey-shirted guy came over and stretched his arm out. Josie shook it.

"Hi, my name is Christopher Baker. I'm very glad to see that there are other survivors of the Purge."

"Huh? What's 'The Purge"?" inquired Josie.

"You don't know? Boy you're definitely one of the lucky ones. The Purge…" began Chris, with a forlorn look in his eye, "The Purge…It was one of those days where you knew something would go wrong. The sky was grey, it was raining, it was one of those days which made you want to curl up and die. Everything was just rainy, miserable, and overall, crappy. At exactly 7:06 pm, all of the lights that were on, shut off. Everything with a piece of electronics in it fried. If you looked up in the sky, you could see faint outlines of birds all flying in one direction, in a great cloud of birds. The ones closest to the edge of town swore they could hear the screams of the souls in hell. Giant green and yellow portals opened up in small areas, and soldiers came streaming out. They all had the same black circle with a plateau in side. They released canisters the first few days they were here, which killed most of the population. They further maintain control, by doing continuous patrols with their mechs, which terminated any rebels fighting against them. We managed to take this spaceport with relative ease, as the administration in control of this spaceport was leaning toward having allies."

"Holy shit…I think I know who the people are…Black Mesa…Fuck those rat bastards!" cursed Josie.

"What are you talking about?"

"…nothing…"

"Hey, do you hear something?" asked one of the escorts.

"Hear what?" asked Josie and Christopher, simultaneously.

"That moaning…It reminds me of a zombie…"

"Zombies; are fucking kidding me? Dude, we live in a fucking war zone, not some mystical land of wizards, magic, and zombies…Grow up!" smirked Chris, clearly unbelieving.

"No, I'm serious. Hold on, let's ask him, the guy standing in the cargo entrance." They walked over, but were kept a good distance away, as the smell of rotting flesh drifted over to them.

"Holy crap; how could he be alive! He's not breathing, and I can only assume by the gaping holes in his torso that he cannot be still standing without bleeding." commented Chris. Josie looked on, trying to keep down the vomit in the back of her throat. The thing began to moan, and raise its arms in the classic portrayal of a zombie. It lurched forward, and grabbed the escort which mentioned the idea of zombies. He screamed as the zombie's teeth sank into the man's soft flesh. Josie did the only sensible thing she could think of. She raised the sidearm she had, and shot it through the heart. Nothing happened, but black gunk oozed out of the wound. She shot again, this time, the gun recoiled and, by luck, the round went up and into the head of the zombie. It fell back with a soft gurgle. As the last sounds of the body hitting the floor died away, she could hear the tap, tap, tap of feet clattering on the floor.

She heard a crackle on the radio in Chris' hand as he brought it up to his mouth.

"What the _fuck_ is going on here!" he shouted into the mike.

"**_No idea, Chris. Sensors are indicating multiple contacts coming from the entrance tunnel in front of you. Leading the pack is a military contact transmitting an ID code indicating that it's…I don't know…Just keep your eyes out,"_ **crackled a response over the radio, "**_But if you run into trouble, head into the entrance corridor and seal it shut."_**

"Thanks dude, and be on the watch for any incoming contacts out of the base."

"**_Can do."_ **Chris walked slowly up the hangar, to the giant maw of a door in the vehicle entrance.

"GET DOWN YOU DOLTS!" cried a haggard voice from the long corridor, "AND GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!" Like the speed of wind, someone rocketed out, and ran like no tomorrow. Chris hit a gray pad to his right, and a sharp, grating sound came from above their heads. A large, toothed metal slab squealed down as metal scraped metal. A final _SLAM _rang around the room. The person that ran in was bent down, panting and gasping for breathe. She was obviously young, not older than twenty. Her wet hair, damp skin, and lack of breathe suggested that she had ran a long distance. Her dark skin was testament to a time of suffering, and multiple scratches adorned her body.

"Are you okay?" Josie asked her.

"Yeah…I'm alright…I…just need…to sleep…" she panted, but suddenly, she fainted and collapsed on the hard metal floor.


	9. John 117

**1025 Hours, February 16, 2630 (Military Calendar) / **

**Unmarked Research Station, New Penang, Orbital Station _Sanctuary _**

The massive paneled gates slid open as the SkyCarrier maneuvered into position, and slowly throttled into position. The gates slid shut behind the craft, and a series of white lights flashed on in the ceiling of the large, girdered room. The transport landed on one of the hexagonal landing pads, releasing five large rectangular containers. They all had the emblem of a circle with a black mesa inside it. Beneath it, there was a caption. It was sprayed on, and it said, "Black Mesa Research Complex: Building a Better Future, Now." Black-uniformed personnel quickly ran over, loaded the boxes into carts, and sped through the sliding doors that led into the station. The lights in the station flickered, amplifying the already mysterious atmosphere.

The corridor led to a bright, white room. In the center, there was an upside-down tripod, connected to the floor. A number of thick, black wires connected the base of the pylons with the consoles that created a perimeter about ten feet away from the claw-shaped object. As the containers entered the room, a number of long, segmented arms reached down from the ceiling, and slid the cover off the boxes. From inside the boxes, the claws took out a number of long, silver canisters. They were placed in slots on the outside of the pylons, one for each of the three. Once they were all placed in, a green light lit up at the top of each column. A skeleton crew of scientists ran around to each console, typing in commands and observing the charts and calculations on each monitor. One scientist typed in one final command, and stood back. A loud, whirring sound filled the whole room, and the lights flickered. A mild, jungle-like ambience filled the whole room. In the center of the three pylons, an orange orb flickered and slowly expanded until the perimeter of the orb reached the inner edge of each pylon.

"Portal link established; inner containment field, online; outer containment field, online, robotic arms, linked with central computer; final failsafe, activated, awaiting final authorization code." reported a fluent, feminine voice, coming from the loudspeakers. A sudden crackle resounded around the room. The same voice came from the loudspeaker.

"Error, contact in portal link. Life-form approaching event horizon; materializing in 5…4…3…2…1…life-form materialized."

"What the hell? Nothing was supposed to come through!"

"I don't know. Key a part of the final failsafe!" Suddenly, a long, green tentacle reached out from the orb, and stabbed the speaker through their stomachs. Several other scientists screamed, as the razor-sharp edge at the tip of the tentacle sliced through their abdomens, as well.

"Shit! Key all of the failsafe!"

"It's not responding! It won't accept it!"

"Crap, cut the power!"

"Working on – AUUUGH!" screamed one of the dark-skinned scientists, as he reached for an emergency shutdown button in the room's wall. Five other tentacles emerged from the portal, this time with a number of slimy, three-fingered claws at the ends, and grabbed a number of surviving scientists. They screamed as the tentacles crushed their skulls in, and threw them against the wall. One female scientist managed to crawl to the entrance, but one of the tentacles grabbed her leg and pulled her in. She screeched, and dug her fingers into the metal floor. The tentacles all grabbed her, and pulled…hard. Her fingernails were ripped from her fingers, and trails of blood led to the inside of the orb, where all of the tentacles retreated to. The room suddenly darkened, sparks arced from the destroyed equipment, and a lone scientist found him self in the midst of what was left of the Black Mesa Portal Research Team. He carefully walked over to the entrance, and ran into the hallway, finally stopping at one of the empty rooms. Inside, he slumped against the wall, and panted, staring blankly ahead. A low growl came to his left. He moved his head so it faced it…and it jumped up and bit his face off…

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And yet he still moved. Groaning in discomfort, and bleeding from the bite, he was surprised that he was still standing. Trails of blood trailed from his face. He groaned, and reached for the wall. Through the haze of red, he could barely make out a medical station, a few feet from him. He reached for it, but was jerked back as the animal tore at his leg, and bit down…hard. He flailed wildly, but stopped as he heard the clatter of feet on the hard metal floor. He glanced back, and saw a green-suited figure standing there, outlined in the bright light of the open door. He thought that he was there to save him, but was sadly mistaken. Instead, the figure waved at the creature, and it backed off. The person then walked over, and kneeled over. _Operor non nixor, pro vestri terminus est hic. _It was Latin. He understood what it meant. _Do not struggle, for your end is here. _He froze at those prophetic words. He struggled to understand why he had said it, but he didn't have long to thing, for his head was crushed by the figure's foot, leaving an imprint on the bloody floor.

Surprisingly, an AI was watching everything. It powered a zoom for one of the cameras there, and he closed in on the figure. He recognized the suit as a Mark-6 Mjolnir class battle armor. The figure then removed his helmet, to reveal a tough, weathered face, with scars from battles long passed. His circuits "froze" as he saw who it was. It was John-117. The famed soldier of the apocalypse, to some, he was a savior; to others, a traitor. But John had gone missing over 80 years ago…why did he look as if he was no older than 25? He recorded this data, and sent it to his creator, Dr. José Manuel, but as he was out of reach, sent it instead to his son, Mitchell 316.


End file.
